An exhibition stand asks a hard question of light. There are no walls to hold it, no ceiling to hide behind, and only a few days to persuade a stranger to stop walking. For our stand in Tokyo in 2023 we answered with the lamps themselves: a low horizon of light, and shadow around it.

The Latest creations went in first. The Wava pieces took the corners, small and close to the floor. The Wireform spheres, woven from aluminium wire, held their glow loosely and let it spill sideways across the aisle. Down the back wall we set the Light Stick in a single row — thin lines of brightness that pulled the eye further into the room. Among them, the Jacqueline, the Golden Lights, the Myriad Light with its crowd of little sources, and a few Heirloom Objects straight off the workshop shelf, each at its own height, none of them arguing. The Stella Moon stayed by the meeting table, and people sat under it longer than they planned.

Four days under an open truss

We make our lamps slowly, one at a time, in a quiet workshop. A fair asks them to speak fast — to a crowd, in a hall with nothing overhead but steel and other people's light. Watching ours keep their composure was the lesson of the week. The stand stayed cool at its edges and warm at its centre, and the pieces needed no captions. Visitors reached out first, and asked afterwards.

Nine collections, one floor, four days. The light held.